On the recordMay 9, 2001
Dated May 8, it shows there the public debt increasing during this period. There has been a lot of talk out here that we are reducing the debt. That is true of the so-called publicly held debt, that debt which is held outside of Government coffers, outside of Government hands. The publicly held debt of the United States as we sit here today is some $3.4 trillion. By the end of this year, it will be $3.2 trillion. That is being reduced to the $800 billion referred to by the chairman. But the gross debt, the combination of the publicly held debt and the debt to the trust funds of the United States from the general fund, is actually growing.
Source
govinfo.gov
